'Marcella Hazan' on Serious Eats

As someone who is old enough to know, I can say without equivocation that without Marcella Hazan, who passed away last weekend, there would be no real Italian food in this country. That's right. There would be no Mario Batali, no Marc Vetri, no Giada DeLaurentis, no Paul Bartolotta, because all of their food was, at the very least, inspired by Hazan's seminal 1973 book, The Classic Italian Cookbook: The Art of Italian Cooking and the Italian Art of Eating. Though no longer in print, its spirit reigns strong in the widely acclaimed Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, written with Karin Kretschmann and published by Alfred Knopf in 1992. More

In her introduction to this recipe (originally titled Polenta Shortcake with Raisins, Dried Figs, and Pine Nuts) Italian cuisine high priestess Marcella Hazan writes that James Beard was overcome by this dessert when he traveled to Venice long, long ago. "He was fascinated by this local specialty, whose nuts and dried fruits are redolent of imperial Venice's trading days with the Near East," she wrote. More

Editor's note: On Mondays, Kristen Swensson of Cheap, Healthy, Good swings by these parts to share healthy and delicious recipes with us. Generally speaking, I'm a healthy eater. Sure, I dig the occasional tire-sized doughnut, but produce and lean meats... More

The first lady of Italian cooking is undoubtedly Marcella Hazan. Is there any serious eater who has not made something delicious from one of her books? I doubt it. I for one am partial to the pork-cooked-in-milk recipe (sooo good). Hazan has written what is apparently quite a controversial memoir, Amarcord: Marcella Remembers. According to the New York Times, Hazan doesn't shrink from calling out certain members of the food establishment. Thanks to the good folks at Gotham Books, we've got five (5) copies of this snappish, non-warm-and-fuzzy memoir to give away. Just tell us here in the comments of this post what your favorite Marcella Hazan recipe is. Contest will end and comments will close at noon ET, Monday,... More

Roasting chicken always, always reminds me of Jeffrey Steingarten. I think the moment my crush on him bloomed into undying love was when I read his essay “As the Spit Turns” in the August 1999 issue of Vogue (reprinted in... More

Besides big roasts, slow braises, and stuffed pastas that are probably best for lazy-Sunday cooking, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking has much to offer in the way of weeknight dinner (if you’re accustomed to spending about an hour making dinner,... More

When I read the comments on my first post about Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I realized that I had underestimated the delicacy of the thumbnail biographer’s task. As an educated, experienced woman who brings home the bacon (okay, a... More

Marcella Hazan, who introduced an America familiar with red sauce joints to true Italian food, is a teacher and writer with whom every home cook should spend some time. She was born in Italy but immigrated to the United States... More